Comments: Color Resolutions International(CRI) enjoyed a solid year, as the company increased its presence at trade shows and is growing its customer base.

“Consolidation in the customer base had its pluses and minuses this past year,” said George Sickinger, CRI’s president and CEO. “Overall, 2012 was not as good as 2011, but we find our pipeline of prospects increasing.”

Mr. Sickinger noted that 2012 was a big year for the industry trade shows, as CRI unveiled a colorful new exhibit.

“We displayed at LabelExpo Americas in Chicago, where attendance was clearly increased over 2010,” he said. “We met many new narrow web and flexible packaging converters and look forward to developing those relationships. 2012 also brought SuperCorrExpo in Atlanta, a major show for CRI. We showcased many corrugated samples that were segregated by level of graphics –fine graphics, mid-level graphics and supply chain graphics as well as highlighted new retail ready packaging. Leads from these shows are turning into sales for 2013.”

CRI continues to put much emphasis on building up its operations in Mexico.

“Color Resolutions de Mexico moved its Mexico headquarters to a new, larger facility in Parque Industrial Martel (Santa Catarina),” Mr. Sickinger said. “We have installed a newautomatic ink dispenserthat doubles our production inkcapacity and implemented a new QC process, matching those already in place in CRI’s U.S. facilities.”

A water-based and UV packaging ink specialist, CRI has built up its presence in flexible packaging to add to its core strength in the corrugated market.

“We continue to see growth in the corrugated industry and in flexible packaging,” Mr Sickinger added. “We also continue to see success in foreign markets. Mexico has been faring very well, so much that we have moved to our new, larger facility in Monterrey. The new facility has showroom-type quality and will position CRI for strong growth in Mexico and Latin America into the future.”

Raw material supply and pricing have been major concerns for ink manufacturers in recent years. Mr. Sickinger reported that CRI has seen stabilization for the most part.

“Q4 2012 pricing and supply stabilized significantly,” Mr. Sickinger said. “We saw very few increases and supply was strong; however, lead times did increase.Our largest concern in 2012 was a continued price increase in Ti02. Not only were weable to secure supply,pricing for Ti02 has leveled off for now, both domestically and overseas. We now have stable pricing through Q2 2013.

“Our area of concern at the moment is with resin,” Mr. Sickinger added. “We haveseen increases from all players in the resin market.All attributed it to the increase in oil pricing,which in return affectskey raw materialsneeded for production,which include propylene, benzene, solvents, styrene and monomers such as glacial acrylic acid, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate. The first increase has already hit and a second is out there for discussion, but has not formally been announced. We are continuing to work closely with our vendors to ensure supply and negotiate pricing as well as reviewing new products.”

Mr. Sickinger anticipates that while the economy will continue to improve in 2013, Color Resolutions is working closely with its customers to keep costs down.

“I expect to see the economy pick up, resulting in a general bump in sales,” Mr. Sickinger added. “We have more customers with interest in in-house ink blending. We have set up many dispensing units across the country and have successfully aided our customers in reducing their ink inventory. They now have the ability to make batches in the size they need and the ability to blend any leftover inks into usable product. Many have opted in our container recycling program. Reducing waste is of high importance, and we anticipate that expectation to increase in coming years.”